


Simply, I pun.

by delia0117



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Drabble, F/M, Reveal, School, mlsecretsanta2k18, puns, there are no miraculouses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 22:00:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17374025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delia0117/pseuds/delia0117
Summary: In a normal world, Adrien is suddenly sporting a black cat suit. Enthralled by its powers, he gets carried away and meets a familliar face.A bit of fluff/banter/reveal.This is a (late) Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa gift for @thelegacyofladybug on Tumblr.





	Simply, I pun.

Adrien didn’t exactly understand how it had happened. Of course, he was there in the flesh to witness it, but he in no way, shape or form was able to wrap his head around the event. 

 

He could, however, wrap his tail around it. He giggled to himself; that was a fairly good joke. 

 

If he were to be honest, Adrien didn’t find any negatives to this supposed accident either. He took a closer look at the shiny object in his right hand: a subtle paw print appeared on the side, and he pressed it. Next thing he knew, his nose throbbed with a sharp pain. 

 

“Merde!” he shouted. His vision grew black for a couple of seconds, and he took a step back to balance himself. Slowly opening his eyes, he finally saw why his whole face was hurting: the short stick had elongated. He gave the baton a quick spin, wondering what else it could do. Adrien started tapping the silver object on all ends.

 

Among his tests, he soon realized it served a rather good use for vaulting off the ground. Giving it a push one last time, he jumped. A few hours later, Adrien could safely say he had mastered rooftop running, trash falling and civilian avoidance. 

 

Once the thrill of it all vanished, he started to feel hungry and scared. What would his father think? Nathalie was surely worrying by now, Adrien was supposed to have come back from fencing a few hours ago. His stomach churned, and he could smell baked goods from a mile away, quite literally. The boy decided to indulge himself in a few croissants before heading back and facing the music. 

 

Adrien leaped from building to building, scaring off a few doves but finally arriving on top of the bakery.

 

_It’s Marinette’s!_ he thought. 

 

He was excited to finally see a part of his classmate’s home. He had grown up so used to stoic halls and pristine looking rooms, he craved some homey décor and a personal space. And by the looks of it, Marinette’s balcony was lovely. Her potted plants were especially nice, they livened up the whole place. 

 

Adrien picked up one of the smaller plants, a succulent. An idea sprung to his mind.  _ I should ask Nathalie for one of these too, I’m sure they wouldn’t take much caring for _ . 

 

“Who are you?!” 

 

He dropped the plant and jumped to the side. Once turned around, he saw his classmate, one foot still inside the house and a shaky umbrella in her hand. She waved it around ostentatiously, probably the only weapon at hand. The plant was still on the floor, its pot shattered. Adrien was still. 

 

“So?” she asked. She was clearly very much annoyed, underneath her slightly scared appearance. 

 

“Uhh, I’m a friend?” he tried. “I mean, I don’t know how I got into this costume exactly, but I came here because I sniffed pastries. I’m sorry about your plant, I’ll make sure to get you a new pot.” When she didn’t seem convinced, he added: “We’re friends.” He flashed her a bright, warm smile. 

 

Marinette eyed him suspiciously for a second, but something seemed weirdly familiar about the boy. And he apologized! For entering and literally breaking, but still, it was a thoughtful thing. And anyone deserves something warm to eat, no matter what! That’s what her father taught her, at least. 

 

“Um, fine,” came the reply. “I have a couple of pain au chocolats downstairs. I guess you could stay.” Marinette’s day had been bountiful, starting with spilt coffee on her white shirt and continuing with Chloé’s mean remarks. She wanted someone to vent to, and Alya was away with her older sister. The stray cat on her balcony was _clearly_ her best and only option. 

 

She retreated into her room and motioned for him to follow. While the girl made her way downstairs for the sweets, Adrien chose to sit at her desk, not wanting to disturb her bed. The whole desk was covered in paper: from half-finished dress designs and crumpled sheets, to her Physics notebook filled with scribbles. The formulas were the only thing Adrien could say was correct; Marinette clearly wasn’t good at maths. 

 

The stairs creaked as she returned. He sat up and took the plate from her hands so she could close the hatch. 

 

“My room’s quite a mess, I was cramming for a Physics test until you arrived on the balcony,” she said, sitting down on a stair step. 

 

Marinette motioned for him to grab the chair and settle at her desk. She sighed and tried to make-do by sitting down on the staircase steps. 

 

“So,” Marinette said, dragging out the word in the hopes he would reply. Allowing a stranger in was beginning to make even less sense by the minute. 

 

“So,” he mimicked, “you’re astoundingly, terrifically, _clawful_ at math.” Tossing another pain au chocolat into his mouth, Adrien watched her expression shift from surprise, to anger, to pure disbelief. 

 

Marinette’s laughter filled the room and completely broke any doubts she had been harnessing about him until then. 

 

“I’m serious!” Adrien’s cat ears were now twitching in excitement. He grabbed a pencil and tipped the notebook so she could see. “Look, you keep messing up the math in the first stages and that’s why none of your problems gain points in the test.” 

He circled two numbers and crossed out another. 

 

She squinted her eyes at him. What was he after? Did he really just show up in a catsuit to tutor her for a classroom test? There surely must be other reasons, right? His warm smile seemed so genuine, though. Marinette’s heart couldn’t help but ache once she stared the boy in the eye. She found a distant longing in his look, a need for warmth and acceptance. 

 

_Maybe there isn’t anyone else who listens to him rant about Physics_ , she mused. A small smirk tugged at her lips. 

 

“Hello? Earth to Marinette?” Adrien was frantically waving his tail in front of her. “You should _purreally_ pay attention, it’s about the Third Law.” 

 

She suddenly snapped out of her reverie and caught his tail with both hands. 

 

“Hey!” The jet black set of feline ears perked up from his hair. “Don’t you know our tail is a cat’s most _purrized_ _pawsession_?” he side eyed her, crossing his arms. “Now I don’t even want to help you anymore.” 

 

Adrien crossed his leather-clad arms with a soft _hmph_. 

 

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Are you usually this overdramatic? I can’t imagine what your friends must feel like on a daily basis, _chaton_.” She flicked the golden bell he carried at his collar. 

 

“It’s only for you, _purrincess_.”

 

Adrien’s eyes sparkled with mischief. _If only you knew_ , he thought.

* * *

 

Two months had passed since Adrien first dropped down on Marinette’s balcony and broke her plant pot. By now, he had mastered the art of being Chat Noir, as they had previously named his cat alter ego. 

 

Sitting at his school desk, he started to wonder whether coming clean to her about it all was a good idea. Chat Noir was actually a timid, lonely boy who only makes flimsy puns because she had laughed so hard when the first one rolled off his tongue. Did it sound as hopeless out loud as in his head? _One way to find out_ , he concluded. 

 

As the bell rang, he made up his mind. He should definitely tell her while they were at school, and he wasn’t masked. In the worst case scenario, he could just brush it off as a joke: he saw Marinette with the cat suit guy on her balcony, he thought they looked similar and it was April’s Fools in his head. _Merde_ , the worst case scenario was actually needing to use this excuse, not her reaction. 

 

Most of the class was by now outside, but the aspiring designer was still at her desk. He could hear Marinette behind him, pencil sketching lightly on paper. He took a deep breath and turned around. 

 

“Hi, Mari!” he gave her one of his genuine smiles, not flashy but somehow bright. 

 

She parted her lips in surprise, meeting his gaze. The pencil stopped.

 

“I’m sorry to interrupt you! I just, uh, had something to tell you?” It came off as more of a question than a statement.

 

“Oh, no. Is it my pencil? I know it’s making a lot of noise, I have to fill in this dress shade I’m making, but I can stop if you want? I mean if it’s bothering you. I know some people get chicken skin from the sound.” She waved it through the air.

 

Adrien looked downright terrified. “No, no way!” He scratched the back of his head and looked to the side. “What I meant is, uh… How should I put it?” He looked her in the eye.

 

“Simply?” she chuckled. 

 

“Yes, yes. Simply. Of course. Well, the shortest I can manage is this: I pun.”

 

“You… pun?” Marinette leaned in, squinting her eyes.

 

“Yes. It’s somewhat of a newly found passion.” Adrien winked and smirked, trying to summon his inner Chat Noir. 

 

The girl blushed. “Look, Adrien, if you’re trying to ask me out or something, you’re a bit late. I liked you a lot, but now there’s this boy I befriended outside of school and I’m kind of set on that. But he puns, too! I can introduce you two if you’d like.” She smiled politely. “He’s kind of a professional, though, so beware,” she joked.

 

Adrien could feel a theoretical hamster spinning fast inside his brain. 

 

“Oh. He… puns?”

 

“Yeah, and in the lamest way: cat puns.” She rolled her eyes, reminiscing his trademarked lines.

 

By now, Adrien was grinning from ear to ear. 

“I’m glad to know I’m the lamest guy. I really don’t know how my friends must feel on a daily basis, _purrincess_.” 

 

Marinette’s face dropped. She picked up her pencil and lunged at him. 

 

“You 一!” Her curse words overlapped with the school bell and Adrien’s laughter.


End file.
